Binotto’s lack of “ruthlessness” was a key reason for the breakdown in trust with Ferrari chairman John Elkann, Sky reported.

"Binotto was a legacy of [ex-CEO] Sergio Marchionne,” the Calciomercato report says.

“The late Sergio did not dote on [ex-team principal] Maurizio Arrivabene.

“But John Elkann never got on Binotto. They were like water and oil. And everyone knew it."

Michael Andretti is hoping the green light for his Formula 1 team aspirations will be "a nice Christmas present."

The head of the Andretti Autosport empire and former McLaren F1 driver is trying to convince F1, the FIA and the existing teams to approve an 11th team entry. It would be financed in part by Group 1001—a financial services company that already sponsors Andretti's NTT IndyCar Series team via the Gainbridge brand.

Group 1001 CEO Dan Towriss downplayed rumors that Formula 1 as a block is opposed to Andretti's team debut.

"I think a lot of times, the quotes that get pulled out don't really tell the full story," he told the Indianapolis Star newspaper. "There's a lot of conversations going on and we're not trying to get out in front of anything or use the media as a tool to influence anything. They have an expectation on approach and decorum that people should take in dealing with them and we respect that."

Also involved in Andretti's F1 bid is Guggenheim, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is said to be backing the new Andretti factory and willing to pay the $200 million entry fee for a Formula 1 franchise.

The green light from Formula 1, therefore, may now be looming.
"We're hoping in the next couple weeks," Michael Andretti said. "That would sure be a nice Christmas present."

He also revealed that even after Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz's recent death, the Alpha Tauri team is definitely "not interested" in selling its team entry to Andretti. "But we're working every day," said Andretti, whose father Mario was F1's 1978 world champion. I'm still confident. We're getting close. We haven't gotten the okay yet, but we're getting really close.

"We want to do something that's never been done before. We want to be in all forms of auto racing, from Le Mans to Monaco to the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500."

The general public will not play a massive role in the inaugural Las Vegas GP next November.

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has already warned that tickets will be unprecedentedly expensive for the event that will include a run down the fabled 'Strip'.

The sport's owners, Liberty Media, have spent a reported quarter of a billion dollars on buying actual land for the event - with Wynn Resorts said to be offering an all-access ticket package for $1 million a pop.

MGM, meanwhile, is spending about $25 million on tickets for special hotel-race packages for guests and plans to build its own grandstand, according to Sports Business Journal.

As for the public, only three-day tickets are available - starting at a minimum of $500 but rising to an eye-watering $8,000 for hospitality packages.

Las Vegas GP CEO Renee Wilm, who is also a Liberty Media executive, confirms that "not a massive amount of tickets" are being made available to fans because "we are so heavily pre-subscribed".

Tom Reeg, CEO of casino company Caesars Entertainment, said: "The demand for that particular event is well beyond what we were expecting and you saw as we rolled out rates, the pricing reflects that."

The introduction of a budget limit from the start of 2021 was driven by a desire to level up the playing field and ensure that the big-spending squads did not have an unfair advantage.

With the system now up and running, Brown reckons some thought should be given to unleashing more innovation in the technical rules.

He suggests that, with there being no danger of a spending war erupting, F1 chiefs should not be so strict with other regulations.

“I think we are over-regulated while under the cost cap,” said Brown. “If you've got the cost cap, I'd almost go the other way: which is: do what you want. If you want to have six wheels, have six wheels. But this is how much you have to spend.”

Brown believes that giving team more freedom to look at left-field ideas would help drive new ideas in the series, and ensure the cars looked different.

“I don't know why the regulations have to be as tight as they are,” he said. “I think if you've got a cost cap, then there should actually be some more technical freedom within the cost cap as you are governed.

"I think then you'd see more innovation and more risk-taking. The cars would look even more different.

"At the moment you've got two governances: everything has to look exactly like that, and you cannot spend more than that. Just stop the spend and do what you want.”

F1 and the FIA have been clear, however, that one of the reasons the current technical regulations are so tight is that they need to ensure teams don’t design cars in a way that hurts the racing.

Asked if there was a danger with his plan that the spectacle could be hurt, Brown said: “It could. But I think it would bring out more innovation. And I think everyone would learn from each other.

“It was like when Brawn did the double diffuser [in 2009]. They got a great head start but, by the end of the year, it was balanced out. So I think you could get that.

“I also think that's a fascinating part of the sport. But that would be the risk.”